Chapter 6 A day may feel long, but he was still a lonely little wolf. ...

Lou Yan's face drained of color almost instantly. He instinctively raised his hand and stepped forward to support the person. "Are you... alright?"

Heng Qichun frowned, closed his eyes, wiped the bloodstains from the corner of his mouth, gently brushed aside his sleeve, and dodged Lou Yan's hand.

"It's nothing." He glanced at Lou Yan indifferently, seemingly a little impatient. "Aren't you leaving?"

Lou Yan's impatient heart was instantly calmed by the coldness in his words. He withdrew his hand with a "whoosh," took a step back, and returned to his original position. He nodded decisively, "Let's go."

It is indeed very hot outside.

The branches and leaves of the Endless Tree were even more shrunken than yesterday. The branches and leaves were dehydrated and shriveled, and their wrinkled appearance resembled writhing worms, making it unbearable to look at.

Lou Yan followed closely behind Heng Qichun, occasionally looking up at the top of his head.

A faint, ethereal aura drifted in the air, emanating a coolness that soothed the restlessness in one's limbs and bones—a cooling technique that Heng Qichun was adept at using.

Lou Yan stared at the shadow walking ahead of him, his thoughts drifting further and further away.

His time cultivating in the immortal sect was far too short. Even after living two lifetimes, he still only had a superficial understanding of many things.

for example--

Why did Heng Qichun vomit blood?

Was it because he sealed his spiritual power for the sake of that shark, or was he really blamed by Nanyu Mountain?

No comment.

Heng Qichun has always been a person who swallows his pride and never easily shows his injuries to others. Even Lou Yan, his "closest" disciple, knows nothing about him.

All of this, like that white, snow-white hair of unknown origin, became a "mystery" he could no longer ask.

As the sun rose higher, the sacred tree was stirred by a hot wind and suddenly trembled in the air.

Lou Yan withdrew his gaze, forcefully activated his spiritual power, and silently cast a spiritual aid spell.

A sudden, sharp pain shot through my lower abdomen.

Lou Yan gritted his teeth and endured it.

The restless wind subsided a little, and the Endless Tree stretched out its branches and leaves. Heng Qichun seemed not to notice anything unusual, and only urged him in a low voice, "Hurry up."

Lou Yan hurried to catch up.

The master and apprentice remained silent the entire way.

In the Eighteen Realms, the sect leader, Nanyushan, has always personally taught the disciples. The disciples all listen to the lessons on the mountain, where it is hot in summer and cold in winter, in order to temper their will and let them know that cultivation is not easy.

Lou Yan thought that was just plain crazy.

Today, Nanyu Mountain is talking about "煞" (sha).

“The evil spirit is formed from the condensation of resentful and malevolent souls. It manifests at midnight, devours people’s vital energy, and causes plants and trees to wither and die wherever it passes.”

“They often use the appearance of an old friend to lure people closer, then suddenly reveal their fangs; those who are hit will surely die within three days.”

Fu Yusheng took Wei Xiuzhu down the mountain last night. Lou Yan had almost no other acquaintances in the Eighteen Realms, and immediately felt bored.

He bit a piece of the pen and, bored, used his fingernail to draw a little wolf on the paper. Perhaps feeling it wasn't enough, he simply traced the little wolf out with the ink, getting his hands covered in ink stains.

The voice from Nanyu Mountain continued: "Cultivators in the world often say, 'Better to encounter a hundred ghosts than to run into one evil spirit,' because it is extremely ferocious and cannot be subdued by anyone but those with profound cultivation... Lou Yan!"

A copy of "The Record of the Underworld" was thrown straight down, flying towards Lou Yan's head, where Lou Yan caught it in his mouth.

Huh?

Someone dares to throw a book at me?!

Lou Yan was stunned by the book hitting him and momentarily forgot where he was. With a "smack," he turned his head and spat out the book from his mouth, then channeled his spiritual power to charge at Nanyu Mountain.

A fellow disciple whispered in his ear, "Senior Brother Lou... don't go against the Sect Leader..."

Lou Yan snapped out of his daze and met the angry eyes of the person at the head of the table.

"You wicked disciple!" Nan Yushan pointed at his nose and cursed, "What are you yelling about? You acted impulsively and swallowed a live shark, causing such a huge mess and even implicating your master. And even now you still don't know how to repent..."

Having exhausted all his arguments, he angrily shouted, "Take the book back!"

Lou Yan lost his arrogance upon hearing the word "Master," lowered his eyes, said "Oh," and then picked up the book on the table, handing it back without even glancing at it.

Nan Yushan took the book with a dark expression, turned only two pages, and then slammed it on the table.

"Lou Ya!"

Lou Yan had a vague sense of unease. He looked down and saw the book "Tongming Zhi" lying quietly on his desk.

What Nanyushan has in his hand is...

"Hey—" Lou Yan, ever adaptable, immediately revealed his standard eight teeth, "Sect Leader, don't be angry—"

"Bang!" Nan Yushan was so angry that he chopped the table in half.

"You're daydreaming during class and even drawing these ugly dogs in your books. How could the Eighteen Realms possibly accept a disciple like you?"

That's not—

dog.

Nan Yushan interrupted him, "Go back and copy this 'Records of the Underworld' fifty times!"

Lou Yan grinned angrily at him.

"What, you're not convinced?" Nan Yushan sneered. "Then tell me, what exactly is '煞'?"

Lou Yan perked up as soon as he heard that.

He once ruled the entire Nine Netherworld Realm and was the last Demon Lord in the world. No one understood ghosts and monsters better than him.

"It's just a curse." Lou Yan chuckled and said lightly, "It's nothing more than the manifestation of people's resentment. Wherever there is heavy resentment, there it will be. There are the most in the mass graves outside the city. If you really run into one, it might turn into a girl wiggling her hips and fucking you into a love cave. It's not necessarily a death sentence."

“Very good, your language is vulgar.” Nan Yushan’s tone was calm, clearly having grown accustomed to Lou Yan’s current style.

“Copy it a hundred times. If you can’t finish copying it, you don’t need to come to class anymore.” He instructed, “If your master asks, you can explain it to him yourself.”

Lou Yan: "..."

Bad luck.

When Lou Yan returned with its tail curled up, the Shenxiao Palace was empty except for the Pixiu cub, which was squatting in a corner of the temple, trying to swallow a gilded palace lantern.

"You'll stuff yourself to death!"

The Pixiu cub looked up and made two "whoosh" sounds, asking him why he had brought back so many books, and whether he had been punished by the sect leader to copy books.

Lou Yan thought this was mocking him.

A stack of books was slammed onto the table. Lou Yan slumped over the desk, resignedly beginning to copy that damned "Tongming Zhi".

It's not that they're afraid to confront Nanyushan, but they're really afraid that things will get back to Heng Qichun.

His master's temper was too unpredictable.

If we get angry and they bring out his original form to blackmail us, wouldn't that be a losing proposition?

Lou Yan sat cross-legged in front of the desk, diligently copying the scribbles in the book.

Nanyu Mountain gave him an ancient book, which contained many ancient seal script characters. Lou Yan had never practiced talisman making, so it was very troublesome to draw. He could only force himself to calm his mind and concentrate.

The hall was unusually hot.

With Heng Qichun absent, and no one to cast the summer heat-avoidance spell on him, Shenxiao Palace felt like a giant steamer.

Lou Yan soon broke out in a sweat. He had used his spiritual power once that morning, and his dantian was still very uncomfortable, which meant that he could no longer use his spiritual power to do himself any favors without permission.

I had no choice but to bear with it.

Lou Yan barely managed to copy it once in the afternoon. He grabbed the Pixiu cub and made do with a bite of dinner. He looked around and saw that Heng Qichun had not returned yet.

Recently, the human realm has suffered a severe drought, and he may be discussing matters with the various immortals in the Heavenly Sound Palace.

As Lou Yan was thinking this, she turned around and was knocked into her sleep by several banging sounds.

He finally had a rare dream.

That was many years ago, when he was still a lonely little wolf.

The demon race was in turmoil, the tiger clan occupied most of the immortal mountain, and the wolf pack scattered and retreated. He was abandoned because he was too young. When he was on the verge of death, he met Heng Qichun, who came up the mountain to exorcise evil spirits.

The little wolf howled and tried to hide in a crevice in the rocks, but Heng Qichun grabbed it by the back of the neck in the next instant.

The exceptionally handsome deity smiled and asked him, "Can't find your way home, little wolf?"

The little wolf was taken back to the Eighteen Realms and hidden in the Divine Firmament Palace. The deity who was worshipped on the high platform by everyone condescended to roll up his sleeves and personally wash his dirty tail.

Forty-five years passed in the blink of an eye—Lou Yan clearly remembered that on the day he cultivated into a human, Heng Qichun gave him a name in front of everyone in the immortal realm and took him under his wing.

Lou Yan.

The gods are oblivious atop the high tower, and people are disgusted by the Bodhi tree that turns its back.

The sound of the watchman's drum is slow at first and fast at last.

When Lou Yan groggily opened his eyes, he realized that the sky was already turning white.

Heng Qichun did not return all night, and the outside world was like a dead mountain—this day happened to be the first day of the month, and all the eighteen realms were practicing Buddhism and Taoism. On this day, the entire immortal sect closed its doors and did not go out.

Do not practice spiritual cultivation, do not eat meat or drink alcohol, do not speak loudly, and especially do not joke or indulge in pleasure.

He focused solely on meditation.

Lou Yan had been a demon in his previous life, so naturally he was too lazy to abide by the harsh and self-torturing rules of the immortal sects.

Since Heng Qichun wasn't there, he thought for a while and then simply got dressed and slipped out of Shenxiao Palace—no one was around in the mountains today, which would be perfect for him to go out and find the little wolf!

A note from the author:

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[Dog head holding a rose] See you tomorrow! Please give me some feedback, and I'll drop some red envelopes in the comments!